Tiptoe
by Neverland8
Summary: [Wholock Divergent AU] Rose Tyler. Erudite Transfer. Dauntless initiate for thirty minutes. First jumper. In the Dauntless Compound, the first person she meets is a man called the Doctor. "Nice to meet you, Rose." he says. "Run for your life!" The thing is, she's got a chip in her brain. A chip that could save the factions or destroy them. So much for normal. Rated T for violence.
1. Aptitude

Chapter One

Aptitude

My name is Rose Tyler, and I never really belonged in Erudite.

It's not as if I hate being there– on the contrary, I suppose I'm intelligent enough to fit in, and all of my friends and family are here, in my home faction. The thing is, Erudite is much too... simple for me. If I disappear, you shouldn't be surprised to find me sitting on a rooftop or riding on the top of the train around the factions, leaning off the edge and kicking my feet out.

I figure that everyone else I know is a perfect Erudite. Sure, my mother had only passed the initiation by the minimum, but she still belongs there more than any other faction. And, of course, Mickey will probably transfer somewhere, but everyone else is alright and content to stay in their faction and obey every order Jeanine gives them.

I never trusted Jeanine. Ever since I was ten years old, I haven't trusted our recognized leader. She'd acted strange since the initiation that year, and now nobody ever sees her, except for a few of her staff. She's furiously working on some project, they all said. Nobody ever said what it was. I think it's a bit suspicious. Everyone else was either following Jeanine blindly, or gone. Disappeared. I figure that I could discover what's up, so long as I didn't get caught– which I won't.

But today is not the day to investigate further. Today is my aptitude test.

I went off to school, dressed in the usual Erudite blue. My mum was worried that she would start freaking out or something; I sometimes wondered if Mum thinks I'm still a baby. I brush a strand of blonde hair off of my face as I sit in my seat in the Advanced Math class, boredly jotting down notes– as if I'd need them, anyway. Unless I continue in Erudite… which I'm not sure I'm going to do. All of our classes that day were cut in half so the students could get through them before lunch… before the Aptitude test.

* * *

After lunch, the cafeteria is repurposed into the waiting room for the test. The administrators call out ten names at a time– two from each faction, one for each room. All the administrators are Abnegation, except for one Amity and one Candor. I suppose I was raised to hate the Abnegation, and I don't see anything to counteract what I've been taught. They were always silent and wanted to help everyone, as if everyone needed help or something. Like they had the upper hand and felt sorry for us. I wouldn't want to be an Abnegation.

I was mad that I wasn't allowed to prepare for the test. None of us were. But the other Erudites agree with me. I glance around the room, hoping that I will be called soon. The waiting has grown from tense to tedious. I wish they'd get it over with.

Finally, an administrator comes out again. She calls out the names, and _Rose Tyler_ is called in from Erudite. I run up, adjusting my scarf. I follow the administrator to the exit, smoothing out my dress. I want to make a good impression. Two Abnegation boys walk stoically beside me. Two Candor Irish Twins are having a friendly debate about which faction they would get; the younger one adjusts her glasses and flips her brown ponytail in a friendly way. Two Amity girls skip down, elbows locked. A Dauntless boy ruffles the hair of a Dauntless girl, who shoves him to the side, giggling. I glance at the Erudite boy beside me– Adam, I think his name is. He looks about as nervous as one could get, and keeps fiddling with something in his hand.

There are ten rooms in here, separated by mirrors. I walk into Room 8, hopefully looking more confident than I feel. An Abnegation is there, with her dark hair held up in a high bun. I can see myself reflected in the mirrors; watching as I realize what is going on. I bite down on my lip and assume I'm supposed to sit in a chair that is in the middle… it looks like a dentist's chair, with a machine placed next to it. I hurry over to the chair and sit down before I can persuade herself not to. I'm a little frightened, but I decide not to tell the Abnegation woman that. I keep my eyes shut and put my head on the headrest. I feel the Abnegation woman attach an electrode to my forehead, and then another. She keeps attaching them, and I grip the armrest. I feel a poke on my arm, and open one eye. The Abnegation woman hands me a vial of clear liquid.

"Drink it." the Abnegation woman tells me.

"And then?" I ask. My accent is rare in the city, my mum told me. I've worked hard not to lose it.

The woman shrugs. "Trust me. Nothing bad."

I drink it. I close my eye.

* * *

I open my eyes an instant later. I am in the cafeteria again; it's snowing outside of the windows. The tables are empty, except for the one in front of me. There are two baskets. One holds a knife; the other holds cheese.

"Choose." says a voice behind me.

I turn around. Nobody is there.

"Choose." the voice repeats.

It is the voice of Jeanine. Of course it is somebody I would never trust. But maybe that was part of some sort of test… maybe it wants me to go anyway. I reach out and grab the knife.

The baskets disappear; the only thing remaining is the knife I grip in my hand. I hear something behind me and whirl around. A huge, shaggy dog stands by the door. A growl comes from his throat.

I look down at the knife in my hands, then back at the dog. The dog barks and runs towards me. I don't think twice; I run at the dog, knife in hand. The dog jumps. I slide away and whirl around to face my attacker. The dog turns around as well, but I leap at it. I brandish the knife and kick the dog to the ground.

The dog looks up at me and whines. I look down as the dog whimpers again. He isn't angry. He's scared. Scared of _me_.

I drop the knife.

Before I can hear it clatter to the ground, I blink. When I open my eyes, I'm clinging to a pole on a bus. All the seats are taken; the bus is crowded with people. I hear someone ask, "Do you know this man?"

I whip around around. The man sitting behind me holds up a newspaper. The front page read "Brutal Murderer Finally Apprehended!" With my Erudite upbringing, I read every newspaper. That headline was never in the papers.

I blink again, thinking again that this must be a test of some sort. "Me?"

"You." he nodded. "Do you know him?"

Something in me tells me I knew the man in the picture. He's tall, wearing a leather jacket– possibly from Dauntless, then? But no, the shirt underneath is a dark green, unlike what I've seen in the Factions, so he must be Factionless. He has short brown hair, a hooked nose, and rather large ears– an appearance that is unique, yet would easily go unnoticed in a crowd.

She glance up at the guy holding the paper. He has burn marks on his hands covered painfully in bandages. There are dark sunglasses on his face. I don't like the look of him.

"Do you?" he asks with a snarl.

"Um… no. Not at all." I shake my head.

* * *

I sit up in the chair. The electrodes snap off my head, and I gasp as a headache hits me like a falling book. I rub my head. I turn to the Abnegation woman. "Gosh. Did your head hurt like this when you finished your test?"

"No, miss." She tells me. "Must just be you. Took you longer than most others, too. Two other groups came and went."

"What?" I ask, sitting up.

She glances at me, then looks away. "Sorry, miss. Probably shouldn't have said that."

"Oh, gosh. My friends are going to be so mad." I lean my head back and put my hands over my eyes. I bring them down a second later, and look at the woman. "Nevermind them, though." I paused, but the woman just cleans a bit. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"What did I get?" I ask her.

"Oh, yes. Of course." She looks at me.

I hold my breath. This could decide my entire future.

My aptitude.

"Dauntless. You got Dauntless."


	2. First Jumper

Chapter Two

First Jumper

I wake up the next morning with a pain in my head.

I groan and roll over, looking around my room. Books line the shelves. Nothing but books and a computer on a table. Will I miss it as a transfer? Will I miss my family? Will I miss _Erudite_?

I dress in a blue shirt and jeans before going downstairs. I fix up my hair in a braid. My mother has a couple apples ready for me; it is all I can eat today. Mum has already gone, and left a note. It's a simple note to tell me where she is, and that she will see me on visitation day. Of course she assumes that I would be in Erudite. She was always blind to my Dauntless qualities. As I was, I guess. I don't know how I hadn't guessed before. And now I'm choosing between me and her family.

_Well, not everyone can be an Abnegation, can they?_

* * *

I jump off of the bus and land hard on the concrete. After blinking pain away for a few seconds, I glance up at the Hub. The top of the tower disappears into the clouds. I brush a strand of her hair away from my brown eyes, then follow a group of chatty Erudites into the elevator, which escalates up to the twentieth floor. An Abnegation holds open the door for us to enter the Choosing Room. The sixteen-year-olds are on the edges of a circle– one of three in the room. They start to arranged themselves in alphabetical order of the last name. In another circle sit the people who gathered to watch, arranged in factions. In the third are the the five bowls. Each of the five bowls– so large they could hold my entire body– hold a different substance. Gray stones for Abnegation, earth for Amity, glass for Candor, lit coals for Dauntless and water for Erudite. An Abnegation man, Andrew Prior, is the conductor of the ceremony this year. He will hand each student a knife– each one called up in reverse alphabetical order– and they will cut their palm open and sprinkle their blood into the bowl of the faction they choose.

It will decide their lives. And I am terrified.

I'm a lot closer to the front than I expected. I guess that there were few children with a last name below the two letters "Ty".

Andrew Prior gives the opening speech, but I don't listen. He sounds distracted anyway, as he glances at a girl sitting with the Dauntless. I was studying them as well, which is why I noticed. The girl has wild blonde hair and brown eyes. She's holding the hand of a Dauntless boy, with dark brown hair and eyes. I can see the girl's tattoos; the girl is close enough for me to see. She has the Dauntless symbol on her visible shoulder, and three ravens on her collarbone. I don't know if I'd like a tattoo or not. I don't know if I'd like Dauntless or not. Transferring is a high gamble.

A young Candor boy runs up. He takes the knife and cuts open his palm, but hesitates before he picks one. His eyes flit between the glass and the coals. He puts his palm over the coals and his blood trickles out of his palm, and drips onto the glass.

The Dauntless cheer. The Candor mutter. The first child as well as the first transfer.

The boy goes to stand behind the Dauntless seats. I watch after him with a slight longing. Could I take my place behind the Dauntless? Could I do that?

More people go up. Few are transfers. Transfers are traitors, that was what I was taught. Transfers are traitors.

"Tyler, Rose."

I stumble up to the bowls, almost falling. Distractedly, Andrew holds out the knife to me. I look down at it, flashing back to my simulation. My head throbs again. I grab it. Why is it getting blurry? It's getting _so_ blurry. I barely manage to cut my palm. The knife drops to the floor.

"Sorry." I mutter.

Andrew picks it up, gesturing for me to continue. I look at the bowls. I can't tell the water from the glass. The stones fade in with the gray of the bowl. The soil and coals are the only things that stand out, and even then, the soil blends with the gray somewhat. The coals stand out. The coals.

I was never an Abnegation. Glad I wasn't born there. Then again, if i had been born there, maybe I'd feel better about this choice.

Blood sizzles on the coals.

My blood.

The Dauntless cheer again. I smile weakly. Maybe it's nerves, the reason my vision is blurry; I still can't see very well. I stumble off of the platform, then trip over my shoelace. I tumble, landing hard on my head. Someone screams. I black out.

* * *

I open my eyes to find a young Dauntless girl with black hair and a green streak leaning over me.

"Come on, then." she says. "Follow me."

The girl helps me to my feet. "You blacked out a few seconds. Don't worry; you won't look bad. Sometimes you inhale the smoke from the coals; they've put something new on it in the last few years." she leads me over to the other Dauntless transfers, who roll their eyes at the chatty girl.

"Shut up, Kee." one of the boys says. "You're embarrassing the Dauntless-Borns."

Kee Yao. _Yes, I remember her now,_ Rose thinks. _She was one of the first people called up. Chose Dauntless without thinking._

"Welcome to Dauntless." Kee says.

I nod. "I'm Rose."

"My name's Kee. Hope you survive initiation."

* * *

"We have to _jump_ on the _train_?" I ask. "A _moving_ train?"

The Choosing is over; the Dauntless are waiting for the train. I couldn't bear to even glance at the Erudite on the way out, to catch my mother's disappointed eyes.

"Yep!" Kee grins.

"But we're new! We've never done this before!" I protest. I've watched the Dauntless jump off the train to get to school every day since I was a kid, but I never expected to jump on with them.

"Didn't you choose Dauntless?" a disapproving Dauntless-born glares at me. I nod. "Then keep up!"

"See if we can get the first boxcar!" Kee says. "Ready? Three! Two! One!"

Kee jumps, gripping my hand. I land in the compartment, but fall flat on my face.

"Sorry!" Kee yells as she helps me up. I look around to see there is only one other occupant of the boxcar– the Candor boy who went up first.

"Bobby." the boy introduces himself. I watch his face as he shakes hands with Kee– his eyes spark with recognition. They've seen each other before.

"I'm Rose." I say, brushing off my jeans. I don't shake Bobby's hand. "How long till we get to the headquarters?"

"I like your accent." Bobby tells me. "And…" he checks his watch. "A half hour. Hope you don't have problems being bored."

"This is going to be a long ride." I groan.

* * *

The rooftop seems to come hours later.

"Finally! We're free!" I yell, before I see what Kee is pointing to. "Wait. We have to _jump_?"

"Yep." Kee grabs my hand. "Do it together again?"

"If it makes you feel better." I tease. Instead of feeling nervous, like I did the first time, I feel exhilarated. This must be what it feels like to be Dauntless.

We jump.

I land on the rooftop and fall over, just like I did when I jumped on the train. _How embarrassing._ Kee lands on her feet. Bobby is right behind us. The others come after. Miraculously, they all make it, except for one girl who chooses not to. I guess she chose factionless over dead– something I don't think I could do. A Dauntless leader is standing on the rooftop.

"Listen up, initiates!" he calls. "I am Max, one of the leaders of your new faction!" He has dark skin and gray hair. He stands on the ledge as if he does this every day. "Several stories below is how to get to our headquarters. If you can't jump off, you aren't a Dauntless. Our initiates can go first."

"Jump off?" Bobby asks. "Off the roof?"

Max nods.

"I'll go!" I shout before anybody else can volunteer, so full of adrenaline.

They stare at me. I flip her braid over my shoulder and go to the ledge, then step back. It's a lot higher than I thought it would be, and below is a gaping black hole. I turn around. They're all watching me, analizing me; trying to decide if I belong. I take a deep breath. If I'm going to be Dauntless, I'm going to start now.

I jump.

I fall, and the ground seems to plow toward me. I can't close my eyes, I won't. I don't even scream; I laugh.

I hit something in the hole, something that catches me. Slipping into blurry vision again, I struggle to breathe as the thing holding me gives way and I hit the ground. I look around. I had landed on a net, but what confuses me is that there is only one person here. From what I can tell, he is tall and fit, with a long neck and big ears.

He holds out a hand to help me to her feet. _Funny how I keep falling over on the day that matters most._ I think.

I stand up by myself. "I… I thought there would be more people." I say as the blurs fade away.

"Sorry to disappoint you." the man says. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

In the dim light I can tell who he is. I've seen him before. He's the man from the simulation, the man in the papers. The murderer. But why would they put a real person in the simulation? Everyone else has a forgettable face, or none at all, or the simulation makes you forget. Not this time.

He still smiles that eccentric, friendly smile as I stare. I shake my head and say, "Rose. Rose Tyler."

"Nice to meet you, Rose." The Doctor says before pressing a button on the wall. Metal doors close over the hole above our heads. He then grabs my hand and says one simple phrase. "_Run_ for your life!"'


	3. Tunnels

Chapter Three

Tunnels

"I'm sorry– where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there!"

The Doctor runs through several tunnels that seem to open up when he approaches them; either that, or they're just cleverly hidden. The latter must be the case, because I often swear I can hear footsteps chasing us.

I turn back to the Doctor, who is running ahead of me. "Is this some sort of test? For the Initiates?"

"Nope." he tells me. _Well, if he is a serial killer, he's certainly an honest one._

"So, what are we doing?" I ask, hoping for an actual answer.

"Running for our lives; I already told you."

"Yes, but from who?"

"Probably the Dauntless, but there might be a couple of Erudites in there. The Erudite are the smart ones, right? Dressed like you?"

I stay quiet, processing this. Why would a faction try to kill their new initiate? More important, why would the Erudite try to kill one of their former members? _Transfers are traitors,_ sure, but they're not _that_ hated.

At that point, a group of four people in black outfits run in front of us. "Stop!" one of them yells, and they raise their guns.

The Doctor grabs my hand again, and stomps on the ground. The people blocking our way stop, tense. But nothing happens. There are a few awkward seconds of silence, where we all sort of stare at the Doctor in an odd way as he checks his watch, and then the floor opens up underneath us.

Gunshots go off, but they don't go fast enough. The Doctor and I fall a few feet, then into another tunnel. "Dang." he says, looking back up at the panel, which quickly closes. "Can't believe how slow that goes. I'm going to have to tell the electrician. Oh, wait; he's dead. Scratch that. You okay?"

He directs this last sentence at me. My sight is getting blurry again. What is with me today? I'm usually a lot better at this _running and jumping_ stuff.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I tell him. "That was actually kind of fun."

"Glad you thought so." the Doctor says, before pausing. He obviously hears the footsteps that I do, and there are a lot of them. "Time to run again."

He takes off, leaving me little choice but to follow him.

"Isn't this exciting?" he asks. "This must be why you people like Dauntless so much."

The blurs are coming again, a lot faster. _He was in the simulation, listed as a murderer._ I think to myself. Finally, the blurs get too rough, and I stop running. _Please let them go away. _

The Doctor stops and looks around. "Well, come on, then!" he calls.

"No." I say. I don't want to admit weakness, so I come up with another reason to stop. "I'm not moving another step until you tell me who you are and where we're going."

"No time right now." he says. "Come with me or you're going to die a very slow, painful death."

"And if I do come with you?" I ask dubiously. The blurriness fades somewhat, so I can probably run if I have to.

"You won't. Are you coming or do I have to drag you?"

I decide to run. The Doctor goes ahead, and I notice that the footsteps are considerably louder. I hear a gunshot in the distance. The Doctor turns a corner. I follow, but almost run into him.

"We're supposed to be moving!" I remind him, before I notice what he's standing in front of.

It looks like a large blue box, with the words "POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX" along the top. The Doctor fumbles with a key in his hands, then manages to unlock the door. "Get in."

_A small box. Perfect place for a murder,_ I think. "And if I don't?" I ask.

One of our pursuers yells. The Doctor points over my head. "They get you." he says. "Trust me, you don't want that." he goes in.

I may be daring, but I'm not stupid. Judging by the number of footsteps, I could never take on the number of people in the group. If this "Doctor" tries to kill me, it's not as if I'm completely helpless. I get in the box.

And then I stop in my tracks. The door slams shut behind me.

I stand on a ramp leading to the center of an enormous room. In the center of the coral-like chamber is a hexagonal console covered in buttons and knobs, with which the Doctor was fiddling nonchalantly.

"It's… it's bigger on the inside." I stutter.

"Yes, it is." the Doctor nods, running around clicking dials. "Right. Now, just grab hold of something, and we'll be off."

A hammering on the door snaps me out of my shocked daze. "They're going to get in!" I yell.

"The assembled orders of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Trust me, they've tried." This sentence is a little confusing, but I am distracted by the loud whirring, like an ill car engine. The ground rocks beneath my feet, and I grab onto a railing for balance. Once it stops, the Doctor runs past me down to the door.

"You still haven't told me where we're going." I tell him.

"You'll figure it out as soon as I open up this door." the Doctor grins.

"Don't open the door! They're out there!" I run over, skidding to a stop right next to him.

"Nonsense. They're about fifty stories above us and have no idea where we are." the Doctor smiles cheerfully.

Right. So we must be in an elevator of sorts. That explains the ground moving.

The door opens.

Outside is a metal-coated room, but we're facing an open door. Outside, I can see hundreds of people running about with clipboards or mechanical tools. Computers line the walls, with somebody working in each one. The whole room is bustling with activity. Most of the people out there are in the Dauntless Black, but I see a lot of blue for Erudite, a couple of black-and-white for Candor, a few red-and-yellow Amities and only one or two Abnegation grays.

"Welcome to the Rebellion." the Doctor says.

_Oh. That explains a lot._

Suddenly, I hear a noise behind us.

"Oh, good. You got her. Now, if you'll excuse me, this noise is shaking the foundations of my mind palace."


End file.
